Textile substrates, such as nylon (polyamide) carpeting, upholstery fabric and similar wool substrates and the like, are subject to staining by a variety of agents, e.g., foods and beverages. Acid dyes are especially troublesome staining agents, e.g., FD&C Red Dye No. 40, which is commonly found in soft drink preparations. Prior proposals for inhibiting staining of polyamide substrates by acid dyes include application of sulfonated phenol-formaldehyde condensates, alone or in combination with hydrolyzed maleic anhydride polymers or polymers of methacrylic acid, acrylic acid, or itaconic acid, or combinations of the same.
WO Patent Application 92/10605 discloses the use of alpha-olefin/maleic anhydride copolymers as stain resists for polyamide textile substrates. The copolymers have between about 0.7 and 1.3 polymer units derived from the alpha-olefin per unit derived from maleic anhydride, the alpha-olefin content of said copolymer comprising between (a) 100 and 80 mol % of an 1-alkene containing 4 to 8 carbon atoms or a terminally unsaturated diene containing 4 to 18 carbon atoms and (b) 0 to 20 mol % of at least one 1-alkene containing 3 or 10 to 18 carbon atoms. An example in which butadiene was the alpha-olefin showed inferior performance for stain resistance relative to 1-alkenes.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,707,708 and 5,834,088 disclose the utility as stain resists on polyamide nylon or wool substrates of 1-alkene/maleic anhydride copolymers having between about 0.4 and 1.3 polymer units derived from the 1-alkene per unit derived from maleic anhydride, the 1-alkene content of said copolymer comprising between (a) 100 and 80 mol % of an 1-alkene containing 4 to 12 carbon atoms and (b) 0 to 20 mol % of at least one 1-alkene containing 3 or 14 to 24 carbon atoms. These patents further disclose that copolymers of maleic anhydride with ethylene, propylene, 1,4-butadiene and 1-alkenes having 14-24 carbon atoms were unsatisfactory for commercial purposes as stain resists on such substrates.
In other fields of research, there has been much interest in dendritic polymers or dendrimers. These are characterized by a well-defined tree-like architecture, the presence of a large density of groups on the surface, and by internal cavities, making them potentially useful in such applications as drug delivery systems, nanoscale building blocks, and electronic applications. Their manufacture requires many process steps and extensive purifications, making them too expensive for many applications.
A useful alternative to dendrimers is the class of hyperbranched polymers, which also have a dendritic structure but with a less controlled architecture, and which can be prepared by a carefully controlled one-pot polymerization. Liu et al., Macromolecules 34, 5067-5070 (2001), disclose a process for making a hyperbranched polymer using allyl ether and maleic anhydride.
New compositions capable of providing stain resistance are desirable. It is further desirable to have stain resistant compositions having reactive groups through which additional functionality can be introduced and/or provide mechanism to bond to a substrate surface. This invention meets these needs.